By FRED KERBER
So we asked Brook Lopez why the number 113 was significant.
“Hmmm, I’m guessing that’s the number of games the Detroit Tigers lost that year when they were really awful,” Lopez said.
And which year exactly would that be? We lost count on the rotten seasons. Actually, it was 119 games in 2003. But no, the significance of 113 is that’s the record for most blocks ever by a Nets rookie, turned in by Kenyon Martin in 2000-01. Lopez should pass that any game now. He goes into tonight with 108.
“That really would be an achievement,” Lopez said. “I really didn’t know what the record was.”
Yeah, it doesn’t really jump out like 714 once did or 755 does or however many Barry Bonds has now (762).
If Lopez reaches 160, he’d be tied for the sixth most rejections in a season by a Net (with Shawn Bradley).
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Jarvis Hayes is listed as questionable for tonight against the Bulls but he’s more like hopeful he can go with his badly sprained left thumb.
“Hopefully,” he said. “The decision will be up to Timmy (trainer Walsh). I feel like I can play. But it’s going to be pain.”
Hayes’ reasoning is that the thumb will hurt – especially when he catches passes – but it’s not his shooting hand thumb and he believes there is little chance that he is risking more damage. Pain, yes. Additional damage, no.
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Why Vince is ripping Vince.
“It’s money time. This is when teams make the playoff push, or are fighting for position or homecourt advantage or whatever the case may be. This is my time to step up,” said Vince Carter, explaining why he was assessing himself as “terrible” the past couple days.
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The Nets have assembled a contender over the years. Too bad it’s in Boston.
If the Celtics do sign Stephon Marbury and win another NBA title, will they vote the Nets a partial share? How many ex-Nets can they use? It would be Marbury, Mikki Moore (signed yesterday), Eddie House, Brian Scalabrine. And don’t forget last year they had P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell.
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Keyon Dooling is having a runaway career year shooting 3-pointers: .448. His previous best was .360 as a Clipper. Thank the Magic assistants, he said.
“Multiple coaches identified that as what I needed to work on most, especially having Dwight in the middle,” Dooling said.
So Dooling worked on his range all summer. Add in two penetrating guards like Devin Harris and Vince Carter who drive and kick and Dooling is having a career year.
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The 25-game countdown starts tonight for the Nets and they’re facing a team, Chicago, they figure to fight to the end for one of the final Eastern spots.
Again, the schedule is not pretty. The Nets (25-32) need to catch the Bucks (28-31, in Dallas tonight) who they trail by two games and also pass the Bulls (26-31) who they trail by one while holding off the Knicks (24-32) who are ½ game behind.
The Nets have two games left against the Bucks: Tuesday in Milwaukee, Mar. 30 in the Meadowlands. They play the Bulls tonight and Apr. 4 in Chicago. They have three left with the Knicks: home Mar. 8, at the Garden Mar. 18 (after a 4-game Western trip) and Apr. 15 in the season finale.
And don’t forget the tough games: four-game trip to Warriors, Blazers, Clippers and Nuggets; two games with Cleveland, two games with Boston, two games with Orlando, one with the Lakers.
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Useless fact of the day: The only word in the English language that has six vowels but they’re all the same — “I” – is “Indivisibility.”